MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Delayed recognition for Shackleton's crew rescuer

Two direct descendents from Luis Pardo the captain of the Punta Arenas Chilean steamer Yelco that in 1916 helped rescue the crew of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition said their grandfather's feat deserves greater recognition since it really was the first Antarctic incursion of the Chilean Navy.

Jaime and Fernando Pardo Huerta, both retired Chilean ambassadors, were specially invited to Punta Arenas for Saturday's celebrations of Magallanes Region Day in coincidence with the visit of Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter of the great English Antarctic explorer.

The three distinguished visitors together with local authorities, Mayor Jaime Jelincic and R/A Edmundo González, Chief of Chile's III Naval Zone, cruised last Friday the Magellan Strait and visited the island of Magdalena, re-editing what was captain Pardo's routine early last century supplying light houses and maintaining buoys.

"Our grandfather risked his life and that of his crew when they set off in the Yelco. It was really the first Chilean Navy expedition to Antarctica and helped establish the link which has turned Chile into a full Antarctic country with Punta Arenas playing a vital role", said Jaime Pardo.

"Current Chilean generations should be aware of that accomplishment and I think it's up to the Navy and Punta Arenas organisations to promote captain Pardo's memory, his achievement, and next year, the 90th anniversary could be a good starting point", added Fernando Pardo.

Alexandra Shackleton said she was very pleased to have met the descendents of captain Pardo, who she described as a very brave man who dared sail to the Antarctica in a steamer that was not prepared for that task but simply moved by the same commitment as Sir Ernest, "I won't return until I bring back all my men".

Although the Pardo brothers did not know Alexandra they did meet her father Edward, when he visited Chile in 1964.